Method of covering a bowling pin



oct. 2o,y 1953 w. 1 HUNT ME'nHoD oF'oVERING ABOWLING PIN Original Filed April ,14.5 1949 INVENTOR 14./ LJET 'u/n/ ATTORNEYSl Patented Oct. 20, 1953 This invention relates to bow-lingf-pins-offnovel construction and, more particularly, -to La --method and means for 'producingisuch bowling lpins.

The Apresent application 4comprises a -divis-ion of my 'copending application, `Serial No. Y87,536, entitled Bowling Pin, Ifiled VlApril 14, '1949, now Patent No. 2,610,057,` dated September -9, l1952.

'Itis welllknownlthat the ordinary 'woodenvbowling-fpins, whether imade -ofa single'solid piece o`f wood or whether of woodflaminations or sections of wood,f'-have1only\alimited period of useful life which is figured by the bowling alley proprietor Aas hisf'basis of'cost, kon the number off-'gamesiior which a pinzmay be satisfactorily used. An object ofniy invention is toprovde a pin which one cost basis so figured, is cheaper and at the same time ,is a more satisfactory pin, in that -pins according. lto my inventionliave ,a .muchgreater period of -.useful life.

A yfurtherobject of my invention is to .provide a-bowling yp in in which the .body portionis so constructed as not to splinter and .thereby eliminates 'danger` to the pin setters -who often otherwise wouldget Splinterainto their hands .and

lingers.

,Anotherfobject is to provide 4:a-bowling .pin made either of newv material or frcmordinary .usedpins and in which the pin obtains all the desirable characteristics of my invention- Other objects will become apparent from the appended specications, drawings and claim, and it will be understood that various modications may be resorted to, the scope of the invention not being limited except to the extent the claim and the prior art may require.

In the drawings,

Figure l is an elevational view, partly in section, showing a bowling pin constructed according to an embodiment of my invention,

Figure 2 is a partial sectional view, on line 2 2, of Figure 1.

The bowling pin 3 as seen in Figure l of the drawings comprises a body part 4, having a head part 5, and a neck portion 6. The pin 3 may be either solid wood or made up of sections or lam1- nations, this being immaterial in the present invention. The base 'i has the usual socket 8 for use in connection with pin-setting devices of the customary kind generally used in bowling alleys. From a point just below the head 5 and 1n the neck portion 6, said point indicated as 9, the body part 4 is turned or trimmed down a fraction of an inch. It will be understood that the p1n is of a standard size for whatever regulations may be in force. The trimmed down part of the pin which is the entire surfacearea,Aexclusivercf the head and part of theneck,` 4is lef-t `roughened for .;.a.purpcse, ,further herein 1describedff. jOver this trimmed down area there is placed asnugly iitting sleeve` l 0, of lfabric, knitted. netted for wovenV .and :which .may be off,..cotton.or,other natural or synthetic fibres.

The ,pin prepared .as foregoing described, :that ispartly trimmed..,dcwn from. its @riginal size, with the .trmmedsurface area rough, A`andthe sleeve covering said area, Visriipped .in Qa ,bath or coating. solution as .will be hereinaftendescrbed.

.The overhangpfthesock onsleeve Lili-at `-the bottom 4.of the pin is ttuckedintothe pinsetter hole 8, as in-dicated at Il, nearlygall .the-,way to the bottom of the hole,A l.thuscreating 4the Ynecessary tension on the sleeve at the bottomof fthe pin for a smooth snug fit across the bottom of the lpin. The Ituckedfin-por-tion of f'theesleevealso acts as ya w-ick,` drainingethe surplus Aof Athe bonding solution 4from off the-bottom surface.

With -the `sleeve 10 "snug `about `the jpin, the -pin is Aready fior -thefcoating operation. The coating steps are made ina Areorn temperature of "68-729 F1., and thelhurnid-it'y ofthe air should not exceed %V 'Illiefirstfdipfisqriade bonding solutionffwhich will rmly an-d securely bond the sleeve to the pin. The bonding solution designated l2 comprises a plasticized polyvinyl acetate solution havfa ing a trade name Scripten and made by the Scriptex Products, Inc., of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The pin is dipped twice into the bond-` ing solution with a period of twenty-four hours between each dipping.

The second bath is the lacquer bath which consists of the following:

44 lbs. nitro-cellulose 20 lbs. ethyl acetate 10 lbs. toluol or ethyl acetate zylol 8 lbs. butyl acetate Castor oil-suiicient to plasticize mixture The pin is dipped twice into the lacquer bath. indicated at I3, with a minimum of three hours between clippings. The humidity of the air in the room must be not over 50%.

When the lacquer coating has hardened the pin is painted around the neck as indicated at I4. The pin is then smoothed off at the bottom and the socket 8 is cleaned out.

A pin constructed as hereinbefore described will more readily withstand the terrific impacts to which bowling pins are subjected, and the pin will not splinter under such impacts. The coatings about the pin form a hard shell about the pin, and this shell is reinforced against cracking or chipping by the brous sleeve which is embedded in the shell in addition to being bonded to the roughened surface of the pin.

This bowling pin will have the play characteristics of a conventional bowling pin except that this pin will retain its original shape for a longer period of time, the reinforced coating resisting denting under contact from a ball or with another pin. This pin will, therefore, 'be more satisfactory to the player and also to the proprietor, the player being assured'that the condition of the pin will not be a handicap, and the proprietor being assured that the player is satised as to the pins and that the pins will outlast conventional uncoated pins.

It will thus be noted from the foregoing Ydescription that the method of forming the bowling pin consists in the several distinct steps described, which are briey stated.

1. Shaping the pin body.

2. Placing the sleeve over the desired part of the pin.

3. Dipping the pin in the bonding solution, twice, with drying between the dips and a period of 24 hours between the two dips.

4. After the bonding solution has set rmly, a period of 14 hours to 24 hours rest for such purpose, depending on room temperature and humidity conditions, so that the bond formed between the pin and sleeve and solution will not be disturbed, the entire pin is then dipped in the said lacquer bath, for the two times, as 'before described.

5. Painting, trimming, etc. then follows, as before described.

My invention also contemplates as a very necessary and important step of the method, that the sleeve shall be thoroughly degreased before using, to remove as completely as possible all the natural oils of the libres of the material of which the sleeve is made, as otherwise these oils will resist thoroughly effective penetration by the bonding solution and cause the sleeve to break loose when the pin is used and the ball strikes it.

4 Thus, it will be understood that the method described contemplates and includes as one step thereof, the step of thoroughly degreasing the sleeve bres.

The wood surface of the pin having been roughened, where turned down to shape, leaves minute fibres projecting all over the said rough surface. It is these that bond with the iibres of the sleeve and in effect make the sleeve ran integral part of the pin.

The degreasing mentioned is accomplished by rst placing the sleeve on the pin and tightly tting on the pin, then dipping in hot water at least degrees Fahrenheit for about ninety seconds, then drying for twenty minutes or until the sleeve has only about 20 percent moisture in it. This assures quick and thorough penetration of the bonding fluid or solution.

Reference herein to degrees Fahrenheit.

What I claim is:

The method of covering a bowling pin with a fabric sleeve containing natural oils, which includes removing the natural oils from the sleeve, bonding the fabric to the pin with a polyvinyl acetate solution by dipping the pin and fabric covering in the solution, covering the bonding coating with -a lacquer coating, said lacquer 4coating including nitro-cellulose, ethyl acetate, toluol, castor oil and a pigment.

WARREN L. HUNT.

F" means References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,394,890 Gault Oct. 25, 1921 1,926,918 Sexton Sept. 12, 1933 1,997,359 Cochrane Apr. 9, 1935 2,215,061 Alt Sept. 17, 1940 2,230,876 Wysong Feb. 4, 1941 2,304,585 McMinn Dec. 8, 1942 2,343,740 Birmingham Mar. 7, 1944 2,471,316 Diem May 24, 1949 2,482,375 Sensenich Sept. 20, 1949 2,487,218 Brinkmann Nov. 8, 1949 2,497,712 Auchter Feb. 14, 1950 2,535,033 Bergere Dec. 26, 1950 

